Route examination system and method

ABSTRACT

A route examination system includes a thermographic camera configured to be logically or mechanically coupled with a vehicle that travels along a route. The thermographic camera is also configured to sense infrared radiation emitted or reflected from the route and to generate a sensed thermal signature representative of the infrared radiation that is sensed. The system also includes a computer readable memory device configured to store a designated thermal signature representative of infrared radiation emitted from a segment of the route that is not damaged. The system also includes an analysis processor configured to determine a condition of a first portion of the route relative to other portions of the route at least in part by comparing the sensed thermal signature and the designated thermal signature.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 14/243,933, filed 3 Apr. 2014, the entire disclosure of whichis incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND

Technical Field

Embodiments of the subject matter disclosed herein relate to examiningroutes traveled by vehicles for damage to the routes.

Discussion of Art

Routes that are traveled by vehicles may change over time. For example,tracks on which vehicles travel may become broken, cracked, pitted,misaligned, or the like, over time. This damage can pose threats to thesafety of the rail vehicles, the passengers located thereon, and nearbypersons and property. For example, the risks of derailment of the railvehicles can increase when the tracks become damaged.

Some known systems and methods that inspect the route, where the routeis a set of tracks for a rail vehicle, involve emitting visible markerson the tracks and optically monitoring these markers to determine if thetracks have become misaligned. These visible markers may be createdusing laser light, for example. But, these systems and methods canrequire additional hardware in the form of a light emitting apparatus,such as a laser light source. This additional hardware increases thecost and complexity of the systems, and can require specialized railvehicles that are not used for the conveyance of passengers or cargo.Additionally, these systems and methods typically require the railvehicle to slowly travel over the tracks so that the visible markers canbe examined.

Other known systems and methods inject electric current into the tracksand examining changes to the current to identify open circuits caused bybreaks in the tracks. But, these systems and methods may requireadditional hardware to inject the current and to sense the current, andmay be prone to false identifications of damage to the route. It may bedesirable to have systems and methods that differ from those that arecurrently available.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION

In one embodiment, a system (e.g., a route examination system) includesa thermographic camera configured to be logically or mechanicallycoupled with a vehicle that travels along a route. The thermographiccamera is also configured to sense infrared radiation emitted orreflected from the route and to generate a sensed thermal signaturerepresentative of the infrared radiation that is sensed. The system alsoincludes a computer readable memory device configured to store adesignated thermal signature representative of infrared radiationemitted from a segment of the route that is not damaged. The system alsoincludes an analysis processor configured to determine a condition of afirst portion of the route relative to other portions of the route atleast in part by comparing the sensed thermal signature and thedesignated thermal signature.

In one embodiment, a system (e.g., a route examination system) includesa camera or sensor configured to be logically or mechanically coupledwith a vehicle that travels along a route. The camera is configured tosense radiation emitted or reflected from the route and to generate asensed signature representative of the radiation that is sensed from asegment of the route. The system also includes a computer readablememory device configured to store a designated signature representativeof radiation emitted from the segment of the route, and an analysisprocessor configured to compare the sensed signature to the designatedsignature. The analysis processor is further configured to determine arate of change to the route based on the comparison of the sensedthermal signature and the designated signature, and to implement one ormore actions in response to the rate of change of the route.

In one embodiment, a method (e.g., for examining a route) includessensing infrared radiation emitted from a route being traveled by avehicle using a thermographic camera coupled with the vehicle,generating a sensed thermal signature representative of the infraredradiation that is sensed, obtaining a designated thermal signaturerepresentative of infrared radiation emitted from a segment of the routethat is not damaged, and determining whether the route is damaged bycomparing the sensed thermal signature and the designated thermalsignature.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Reference is made to the accompanying drawings in which particularembodiments of the invention are illustrated as described in more detailin the description below, in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic illustration of a thermographic route examinationsystem in accordance with one example of the inventive subject matterdescribed herein;

FIG. 2 illustrates a thermal signature of a segment of a route shown inFIG. 1 according to one example of the inventive subject matterdescribed herein;

FIG. 3 illustrates another thermal signature of a segment of the routeshown in FIG. 1 according to one example of the inventive subject matterdescribed herein;

FIG. 4 illustrates a combined thermal signature of a segment of theroute shown in FIG. 1 according to one example of the inventive subjectmatter described herein;

FIG. 5 illustrates a thermal signature of a segment of the route shownin FIG. 1 according to another example of the inventive subject matterdescribed herein;

FIG. 6 illustrates a flowchart of a method for examining a routeaccording to one example of the inventive subject matter describedherein;

FIG. 7 is a schematic illustration of a thermographic route examinationsystem in accordance with another example of the inventive subjectmatter described herein; and

FIG. 8 illustrates a flowchart of one embodiment of a method forexamining a route.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

One or more examples of the inventive subject matter described hereininclude systems and methods for identifying damaged segments of a routeby examining temperatures of the route. Infrared technology can be usedto detect thermal signatures in the route.

Examples of routes may include roads, tracks, rails, and the like. Thethermal signatures or patterns may be used to differentiate someportions or segments of the route from other portions or segments. Inthis instance, the first portion may be a damaged or unhealthy portionrelative to the other portions of the route proximate to that firstportion. The term “healthy” may be used to refer to the lack of damageto the route, while the term “unhealthy” may be used to refer to damage.For example, a healthy segment of a route can include the portion of theroute that has no damage or has a sufficiently reduced amount of damagethat vehicles can travel on the route at or near an upper speed limit ofthe route (e.g., track speed). Further, the first (different) portion ofthe route may be, for example, a pit, pothole, bump, loose debris,crack, buckle, ice patch, leaves, oil slick, or other feature that mayaffect the travel of the vehicle across that first portion. Differenttypes of routes may have features that are particular to that route. Forexample, a pair of steel rails may have one type of pitting while a dirtor gravel road may have pits that entirely different (and havecorrespondingly different thermal signatures).

It may be useful to have external/contextual information about the routeitself and/or the environment to better identify the health or type ofdamage that is likely or possible. As examples, an ice patch (and itssignature) may be more likely to occur when the ambient temperature isbelow freezing, a standing puddle is less likely in the desert, andmisaligned rails may be more common on certain track grades or afterheavy rains. GPS coordinates may be used in conjunction with mapdatabases to provide more information about particular locations. Knownmarkers, such as paint lines on a road or the ballast/ties of a railroadtrack, may be used to set baseline values. These known markers may beuseful for contextual information as, for example, an identified railtie would be less likely to be a pitted rail. An edge line on a roadmight demarcate asphalt from a soft shoulder. Thus, identifying thecontext allows for both ruling out certain signatures, as well asidentifying possible signature types. These additional informationalitems about the environment may be used in conjunction with the thermalsignatures for more accurate decision making and determinations.

In one embodiment, a thermographic or infrared (IR) camera may bemounted on a vehicle, and may be oriented toward the route beingtraveled upon. As the vehicle moves along the route, infrared images maybe captured from the route. The images of the route can be analyzedafter the vehicle has passed over the route to obtain heat patterns, orthermal signatures, of the route. The thermal signatures for healthy andunhealthy (e.g., damaged) routes may be compared to identify thosesegments of the route that may be damaged. Alternatively, the camera orsensor may be logically coupled to the vehicle. That is, it may bemounted to a drone, unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) or to another vehiclethat is further along the route than the subject vehicle. Communicationsystems may be used to transmit the raw data (for further processing) orthe processed thermal signature back to the subject vehicle for furtheruse. These images of the route from the camera or sensor, regardless ofwhether it is mechanically or logically coupled to the vehicle, mayprovide the thermal signature information to the subject vehicle inaccordance with an embodiment of the invention.

When a damaged segment of the route has been identified, one or moreresponsive actions may be initiated. For example, a warning signal maybe communicated (e.g., transmitted or broadcast) to one or more othervehicles to warn the other vehicles of the condition of the route at thefirst portion, a warning signal may be communicated to one or morewayside devices disposed at or near the route so that the waysidedevices can communicate the warning signals to one or more othervehicles systems, a warning signal can be communicated to an off-boardfacility that can arrange for the repair and/or further examination ofthe damaged segment of the route, or the like. In one embodiment, avehicle may have a responsive suspension system that switches from onemode of operation to another as the vehicle approaches and/or passesover the first portion that has been identified as damaged or unhealthy.The suspension may be stiffened to better absorb shock, the propulsionsystem may be modified to reduce the chance of skid or slippage, and/orthe engine may be throttled down to reduce the vehicle speed, asexamples.

FIG. 1 is a schematic illustration of a thermographic route examinationsystem 100 in accordance with one example of the inventive subjectmatter described herein. The system 100 may be disposed onboard avehicle 102, such as a rail vehicle. The vehicle can connect with one ormore other vehicles, such as one or more locomotives and rail cars, toform a consist that travels along a route 120. In this embodiment theroute is a track formed from parallel steel rails. In other embodiments,suitable vehicles may be on-highway vehicles, off-highway vehicles(e.g., a vehicle that may be not designed or may be not designed fortravel on public roadways), a passenger automobile (autonomous orotherwise), mining equipment, farming equipment, or the like. Forexample, the vehicle may be an automobile traveling on a road in oneembodiment. In a consist in the current rail-based example, the vehiclecan pull and/or push passengers and/or cargo, such as in a train orother system of vehicles.

The system may include one or more cameras 106 mounted or otherwiseconnected with the vehicle so that the camera moves with the vehiclealong the route. Suitable cameras, or sensors, may include thermographiccameras. Note that thermographic cameras are currently contemplated, butother energy spectrums may be used provided that the correspondingsignatures and systems accommodate the system. The camera may beoriented such that a field of view 108 of the camera includes a portionof the route. For example, the thermographic camera can be disposedbeneath the vehicle as shown in FIG. 1, and/or may be disposed on thefront, back, or side of the vehicle and oriented in a generally downwarddirection toward the route. The field of view of the camera representsthe space that may be captured on images generated by the camera.

The camera senses infrared radiation emitted by the route or reflectedfrom the route, or more accurately in some cases by the radiation thatis not emitted but should have been. This infrared radiation canrepresent different temperatures of the route. For a healthy route, thetemperatures of different locations in the route may be the same orapproximately the same. In one embodiment, a suitable designated rangefor “normal” may be less than about 2 degrees Celsius. But, for a routeportion that differs by more than a threshold value, such as more than 2degrees Celsius, the analyzer processor may designate such an area asdamaged (or just suspect if the temperature differential is barely abovethe threshold value). The threshold value may be set based on factorsthat include the time of day, the ambient temperature, the quality ofthe camera, the cleanliness of any camera lenses, external/contextualinformation (discussed herein), the type of route, and the type ofvehicle and sensitivity of the vehicle to various damaged segments ofthe route.

Examples of route features that create a temperature differential ofmore than a threshold value may include breaks through a rail of theroute, pitting in the route, and undulations in the route. For example,a break in a rail of the route may include an air gap, which can have adifferent temperature than the other parts of the rail due to air,condensation, or other debris being inside the air gap. Similarly, pits,cracks, or the like, in the route may be at least partially filled withair, condensation, or debris, which causes the pits, cracks, or the liketo have different temperatures than the other parts of the route.Undulations in a rail of the route may cause different locations of theroute to be spaced farther from the underlying surface of the ground,ballast material, or the like. These different distances between therail and the underlying surface can cause different locations of therail to have different temperatures. The camera may be an infraredcamera that senses or otherwise detects the infrared radiation emittedfrom the route. As a result, the camera senses or otherwise detects thedifferent temperatures of the route.

The camera may sense the infrared radiation from the route while thevehicle may be moving at relatively fast speeds. For example, theinfrared radiation may be detected while the vehicle may be moving at ornear an upper speed limit of the route, such as the track speed of theroute when maintenance may be not being performed on the route or theupper speed limit of the route has not been reduced.

The camera can operate based on signals received from a cameracontroller 112. The camera controller includes or represents one or morehardware circuits or circuitry that includes and/or may be coupled withone or more computer processors (e.g., microprocessors) or otherelectronic logic-based devices. The camera controller activates thecamera to cause the cameras to sense infrared radiation from the route.The radiation may be emitted or may be reflected from the route surface.

The camera generates thermal signatures of the route that representdifferent temperatures of segments or portions of the route. The thermalsignatures may be based, at least in part, on the infrared radiationsensed by the camera. For example, the thermal signatures can beinfrared images of the route. As described herein, the thermalsignatures can indicate different temperatures of different locations ofthe route, and can be examined to determine where the route may bedamaged. And, as mentioned, additional external/contextual informationmay be brought in to the determination as may be available andappropriate.

An analysis processor 116 examines the thermal signatures generated bythe camera to identify damaged segments of the route. The analysisprocessing unit can include or represent one or more hardware circuitsor circuitry that includes and/or may be coupled with one or morecomputer processors (e.g., microprocessors) or other electroniclogic-based devices. The analysis processing unit receives the thermalsignatures from the camera and examines the thermal signatures todetermine if one or more segments of the route may be damaged. Asdescribed herein, this examination of the thermal signatures can includecomparing a thermal signature from the camera to one or more previouslyacquired thermal signatures of the route, comparing a thermal signaturefrom the camera to a baseline thermal signature representative ofcalculated or estimated temperatures of the route, combining a thermalsignature with one or more other thermal signatures of the route, or thelike. Optionally or additionally, the analysis processing unit canobtain data about the route from one or more other sensors (e.g., otherthan the camera) and combine or compare this additional data with thethermal signatures from the camera in order to identify and/or predictdamage to the route, as described below.

FIG. 2 illustrates a thermal signature 200 of a segment of the routeshown in FIG. 1 according to one example of the inventive subject matterdescribed herein. The thermal signature can include different colors,intensities, or the like, which represent the different temperatures ofthe segment of the route, as sensed by the camera. In one example, thethermal signature can represent the temperatures of one rail of theroute. Another camera may generate another thermal signature for anotherrail of the route, or one camera may generate thermal signatures forplural rails of the route. The analysis processing unit can examine thethermal signature to identify areas of interest 202 in the thermalsignature.

The areas of interest can be identified by determining which portions ofthe thermal signature have the same or similar (e.g., within adesignated range of wavelengths) colors, the same or similar (e.g.,within a designated range) intensities, or the like, and which portionsof the thermal signature have different (e.g., outside of the designatedrange) colors, intensities, or the like. In the illustrated example, theareas of interest may have different output values compared to otherportions of the thermal signature. Outputs can be representedgraphically by colors for human consumption. For example, the areas ofinterest may have lighter colors (e.g., closer to white than black)and/or brighter intensities than other areas of the thermal signature.

The differences between the areas of interest and the remainder of thethermal signature can indicate that the areas of interest may berepresentative of damaged portions of the route. For example, the areasof interest may represent hotter locations of the route than other areasin the thermal signature. In one example, the analysis processing unitexamines the differences between the areas of interest and other areasof the thermal signature to determine if the areas of interest indicatedamage to the route. In one embodiment, hotter areas of interest mayrepresent locations where there may be damage to the route.Alternatively, hotter areas of interest can represent locations wherethere may be no damage or less damage to the route than other areas ofthe route. For example, the locations outside of the area of interestmay be cooler because the air, debris, or the like, that may be in thecracks, voids, gaps, and the like, in the route may be cooler than theremainder of the route. Damage may be in the form of voids, cracks,gaps, or the like, in the route that may be warmer than other locationsof the route. Note, too, that mere “hotter” or “colder” may be thesimplest deterministic way of identifying concerns. The patterns of hotand/or cold, the shape of the areas, the gradients from hot to cold, andother external/contextual information may be used to further identifywhether there is an unhealthy section of route, and what should be donein response.

In one example, the analysis processing unit can examine several thermalsignatures obtained for the same segment or at least partiallyoverlapping segments of the route in order to identify areas of interestin the thermal signatures. The thermal signatures can be formed from theradiation sensed by the camera and/or one or more other cameras when thesystem and/or one or more other systems travel over the same segment ofthe route at different times. For example, several thermal signatures ofthe same segment of the route may be obtained at different times. Theanalysis processing unit can compare these thermal signatures toidentify changes over time in the thermal signatures. The changes mayappear as the areas of interest, and may be identified by the analysisprocessing unit as representative of damage to the route.

Returning to the description of the system shown in FIG. 1, optionally,the analysis processing unit can compare the thermal signature (shown inFIG. 2) generated by the camera with one or more healthy thermalsignatures. A healthy thermal signature can represent the thermalsignature that was previously obtained from a segment of the route thatmay be not damaged or may be not significantly damaged (e.g., any damageextends over less than a designated fraction of the segment of theroute). For example, during a previous pass of the system over the samesegment of the route or over another segment of the route that may beknown to not include significant damage, the radiation actually emittedby the segment of the route can be sensed and saved by the system as ahealthy thermal signature. In one embodiment, a healthy thermalsignature represents a portion of the route that may be not damaged orthat does not include any damaged surface, interior, or other part ofthe route. For example, the healthy thermal signature may be anidealized version of the route that represents the route without anydamage.

FIG. 3 illustrates another thermal signature 300 of a segment of theroute shown in FIG. 1 according to one example of the inventive subjectmatter described herein. Similar to the thermal signature shown in FIG.2, the thermal signature can include different colors, intensities, orthe like, which represent the different temperatures of the segment ofthe route, as sensed by the camera. In one example, the thermalsignature can represent the temperatures of one rail of the route.Another camera may generate another thermal signature for another railof the route, or one camera may generate thermal signatures for pluralrails of the route.

One difference between this thermal signature and the first thermalsignature (shown in FIG. 2) may be that the thermal signature may be ahealthy thermal signature that may be generated from radiation emittedby a segment of the route that does not include significant damage. Asdescribed above, the healthy thermal signature may be obtained by aprevious pass of the system (shown in FIG. 1) over the segment of theroute.

The healthy thermal signature may be stored in a memory device 118(shown in FIG. 1) of the system. The memory device includes orrepresents one or more memory devices, such as a computer hard drive, aCD-ROM, DVD ROM, a removable flash memory card, a magnetic tape, or thelike. The memory device can be disposed onboard the vehicle or off-boardthe vehicle. For example, a communication system 120 (shown in FIG. 1)may be disposed onboard the vehicle to allow the vehicle to communicatewith one or more off-board components or other vehicles. Thecommunication system includes hardware circuits or circuitry thatinclude and/or may be connected with one or more computer processors(e.g., microprocessors) and communication devices (e.g., wirelessantenna 122 and/or wired connections 124) that operate as transmittersand/or transceivers for communicating signals with one or more locationsdisposed off-board the vehicle. For example, the communication systemmay wirelessly communicate signals via the antenna and/or communicatethe signals over the wired connection (e.g., a cable, bus, or wire suchas a multiple unit cable, train line, or the like) to a facility and/oranother vehicle system or consist, to another vehicle in the samevehicle system or consist, or the like. If the healthy thermal signaturemay be not stored onboard the vehicle, then the analysis processing unitcan wirelessly obtain or receive the healthy thermal signature from amemory device disposed off-board the vehicle.

Different thermal signatures of healthy route portions may be associatedwith segments of the route. A vehicle controller 114 (shown in FIG. 1)of the vehicle can be used to manually and/or autonomously controlmovement of the vehicle, and can track where the vehicle may be locatedwhen the thermal signatures may be obtained. For example, the vehiclecontroller can include and/or be connected with a positioning system,such as a global positioning system (GPS), cellular triangulationsystem, or the like, to determine where the vehicle may be located at aparticular point in time. Optionally, the vehicle controller maydetermine where the vehicle location based at least in part on how fastthe vehicle travels and how long the vehicle has been traveling on theroute (a “vector” determination of sorts). For example, the vehiclecontroller can calculate how far the vehicle has moved from a knownlocation (e.g., a starting location or other location). Yet another wayto determine vehicle location is to observe the surround terrain andcompare against a known terrain database. Based on the location of thevehicle when the actual thermal signature was obtained, the analysisprocessing unit can further obtain, from the memory device, a healthythermal signature associated with the segment of the route at or nearthe same location of the vehicle.

The analysis processing unit can compare the actual or current thermalsignature with the healthy thermal signature to identify differencesbetween the signatures. For example, the areas of interest (shown inFIG. 2) in the actual or current thermal signature may not appear in thesame locations as in the healthy thermal signature. Because the healthythermal signature can represent the radiation that may be expected to beemitted by the segment of the route when the segment does not havesignificant damage, differences between the actual thermal signature andthe healthy thermal signature may indicate locations of damage to theroute. For example, because the areas of interest do not appear in thehealthy thermal signature but do appear in the actual thermal signature,these areas of interest may be identified by the analysis processingunit as damaged locations of the route.

Optionally, the healthy thermal signature may be a baseline thermalsignature. A baseline thermal signature may represent the radiation thatmay be calculated or estimated as being emitted by the segment of theroute at the location of the vehicle when the actual thermal signature(that may be to be examined) was obtained. For example, the radiationthat may be expected to be emitted from a healthy segment of the routemay be calculated from one or more thermodynamic models or equationsrepresentative of the route. The expected radiation can be calculatedfor different locations of the route and used to create the healthythermal signature. The analysis processing unit can compare the actualthermal signature to the baseline thermal signature to determine if anydifferences exist. The differences can represent damage to the route.

FIG. 4 illustrates a combined thermal signature 400 of a segment of theroute shown in FIG. 1 according to one example of the inventive subjectmatter described herein. Similar to the thermal signatures shown inFIGS. 2 and 3, the thermal signature can include different colors,intensities, or the like, which represent the different temperatures ofthe segment of the route, as sensed by the camera. In one example, thethermal signature can represent the temperatures of one rail of theroute. Another camera may generate another thermal signature for anotherrail of the route, or one camera may generate thermal signatures forplural rails of the route.

A difference between the thermal signatures described herein may be thata composite thermal signature combines several other thermal signaturesof the same or overlapping segments of the route. For example, multiplevehicles may travel over a same segment of a route multiple times andobtain multiple thermal signatures from these travels. One or morepreviously obtained thermal signatures may be stored on the memorydevice onboard the vehicle and/or on an off-board memory device. Theanalysis processing unit can combine the thermal signatures by mixingthe thermal signatures together, such as by calculating average, median,deviations, or the like in colors, intensities, or the like, atdifferent locations in the thermal signatures. The averages, medians,deviations, or the like, may then be used to form the combined thermalsignature.

The combined thermal signature may be generated to filter outdifferences between the thermal signatures that may be not due to damageto the route. By calculating averages, medians, deviations, or the like,of several thermal signatures based on emitted radiations that may bemeasured at different times, the effect of external factors (such aschanges in ambient temperatures, weather, or the like) on the combinedthermal signature may be reduced. For example, snow, ice, or the like,on the route can mask or hide damage to the route in a thermal signatureby reducing elevated temperatures in the thermal signature that mayotherwise indicate damage to the route. Similarly, elevated ambienttemperatures can raise the temperature of non-damaged portions of theroute to appear similar to damaged portions of the route. By combiningseveral thermal signatures obtained at different times (and potentiallyunder different ambient conditions), the impact of external factors thatmay mask or hide damage to the route can be reduced.

In the illustrated example of the combined thermal signature, severalareas of interest 402, 404 have colors and/or intensities that differfrom other areas of the signature (e.g., by at least a designated,non-zero threshold amount). The areas of interest in the combinedthermal signature may be disposed in the same or approximately the samelocations along the route as some of the areas of interest shown in thethermal signature (which also may be referred to as a single-passthermal signature). As described above, these areas of interest mayrepresent damaged locations of the route. Additional areas of interestmay represent damaged locations of the route. These additional areas ofinterest do not appear in the thermal signature shown in FIG. 2,potentially due to one or more external factors masking or hiding theareas of interest 404 from appearing in the thermal signature.

FIG. 5 illustrates a thermal signature 500 of a segment of the routeshown in FIG. 1 according to another example of the inventive subjectmatter described herein. The thermal signature represents a frequencyspectrum of different wavelengths of the radiation emitted by thesegment of the route at one or more locations along the route. Thethermal signature may be shown alongside a horizontal axis 516representative of wavelengths of radiation emitted from the route and avertical axis 518 representative of magnitudes of the wavelengths of theradiation emitted from the route.

The thermal signature includes several peaks 502, 504, 506, 508, 510,512, 514 representative of an increased presence or magnitude ofcorresponding wavelengths of the emitted radiation relative to otherwavelengths of the emitted radiation. The thermal signature may begenerated by the analysis processing unit (shown in FIG. 1). Forexample, the camera (shown in FIG. 1) may output the radiation sensedfrom the route to the analysis processing unit, which can then createthe thermal signature based on this sensed radiation. Optionally, thecamera and/or camera controller (shown in FIG. 1) can generate thethermal signature based on the sensed radiation and output the thermalsignature to the analysis processing unit.

The analysis processing unit can examine the thermal signature todetermine if the thermal signature indicates damage to the route. Forexample, the presence or absence of one or more peaks in the thermalsignature, and/or the locations or relative locations of the peaks, canrepresent damage or a lack of damage to the route. The analysisprocessing unit can compare the presence of the peaks, the locations ofthe peaks, and the like, to one or more predefined designated peaksassociated with damage to the route. If the peaks in the thermalsignature match or may be relatively close to the designated peaks, thenthe analysis processing unit may determine that the route may bedamaged.

If the analysis processing unit determines that the route may bedamaged, the analysis processing unit can communicate a warning signalto the vehicle controller. This warning signal can indicate to thevehicle controller that the route may be damaged. In response to thiswarning signal, the vehicle controller may take one or more responsiveactions. For example, the vehicle controller may include an outputdevice, such as a display, speaker, or the like, that visually and/oraudibly warns an operator of the vehicle of the damaged segment of theroute. The operator may then decide how to proceed, such as by slowingor stopping movement of the vehicle, or by communicating with anoff-board repair or inspection facility to request further inspectionand/or maintenance of the misaligned segment of the route. Optionally,the vehicle controller may automatically implement the responsiveaction, such as by automatically slowing or stopping movement of thevehicle and/or automatically communicating with the off-board repair orinspection facility to request further inspection and/or maintenance ofthe damaged segment of the route.

In one embodiment, the processor 114 applies a correlation factor to oneor more of the thermal signatures that may be compared with each other.As described above, a combined thermal signature may be generated tofilter out differences between the thermal signatures that may be notdue to damage to the route. Additionally or alternatively, the processormodifies one or more of the thermal signatures to account fordifferences between thermal signatures that may be not due to damage tothe route. Different portions of the same location of the route appeardifferent in thermographic images due to changes in ambienttemperatures. A damaged portion of the route may appear less damagedduring cold weather (e.g., snow, ice, or rain) than during warmerweather. Conversely, a non-damaged portion of the route may appear moredamaged during warmer weather than during colder weather.

In order to account for these different ambient conditions, theprocessor modifies one or more of the thermal signatures that may becompared with each other to identify route damage in one embodiment. Forexample, a first thermal signature may be based on a thermographic imageobtained at a first ambient temperature and a second thermal signaturemay be based on another thermographic image obtained at a warmer, secondambient temperature. The processor modifies the first and/or secondthermal signature so that the first and second thermal signaturesrepresent thermal signatures obtained at the same ambient temperatures.The processor can modify a thermal signature by changing an intensity,color, profile, gradient, or other characteristic of a thermographicimage on which the thermal signature may be based. For example, theprocessor can increase the intensities of IR radiation detected in athermographic image responsive to the thermographic image being obtainedat a colder ambient temperature than another thermographic image.Alternatively, the processor can decrease the intensities of IRradiation detected in a thermographic image responsive to thethermographic image being obtained at a warmer ambient temperature thananother thermographic image. The processor can determine the ambienttemperatures by receiving input from an external source, such as anoperator of the vehicle, a thermometer, a communication received from anoff-board location via the communication system. The modifiedthermographic image can be compared with one or more other thermographicimages to compare the images and detect damage to the route.

FIG. 7 may be a schematic illustration of a thermographic routeexamination system 700 in accordance with another example of theinventive subject matter described herein. The system can be disposedonboard the vehicle, such as a rail vehicle, automobile, or othervehicle, that travels along the route. Similar to the system describedabove, the system includes one or more thermographic cameras mounted orotherwise connected with the vehicle so that the camera moves with thevehicle along the route. The thermographic camera may be oriented suchthat the field of view of the camera includes a portion of the route.

The system also includes one or more additional disparate sensors 702that obtain data about or representative of the route. This additionaldata differs from the data provided or obtained by the camera. Forexample, the additional data provided by the sensor may be notthermographic images of the route in one embodiment. As one example, thesensor may be a microphone or other audio pickup device that detectsacoustic data (e.g., sounds) generated by movement of the vehicle overthe route as the additional data. As another example, the sensor may bea camera other than a thermographic camera that generates images orvideos of the route during movement of the vehicle over the route as theadditional data. As another example, the sensor includes conductivebodies (e.g., conductive shoes, wires, cables, etc.) that contact aconductive portion of the route (e.g., a rail), inject electric signalsinto the conductive portion of the route, and detect changes in thesignals as the additional data. As another example, the sensor includesa displacement sensor that engages the route and measures changes in adistance between the route and the vehicle as the additional data.Alternatively, the sensor may be another type of sensor that obtainsdata other than thermographic data.

The camera can operate based on signals received from a cameracontroller. The camera controller includes or represents one or morehardware circuits or circuitry that includes and/or may be coupled withone or more computer processors (e.g., microprocessors) or otherelectronic logic-based devices. The camera controller activates thecamera to cause the cameras 106 to sense infrared radiation from theroute.

An analysis processor 716 examines the data provided by the differentsensors to identify damaged segments of the route. The analysisprocessor can include hardware circuits or circuitry that includesand/or may be coupled with one or more computer processors (e.g.,microprocessors) or other electronic logic-based devices. The analysisprocessor 716 receives the thermal signatures from the camera and theadditional data provided by the sensor. The analysis processor comparesthis data and/or separately examines the data in order to determine ifthe route may be damaged. As one example, the analysis processorexamines the thermal signatures from the camera to identify damage tothe route, and also examines the data from the other sensor to determinewhether this additional data also indicates damage to the route. In theexample where the sensor may be a microphone or other audio pickupdevice, certain sounds indicate damage to the route. For example, soundsthat may be detected at times that the wheels of the vehicle do not passover known locations of gaps or other breaks in the route (e.g., gaps orinsulated joints between segments of a rail) can indicate damage to theroute. In the example where the sensor may be a camera other than athermographic camera, images or video can show damage to the route andcan be detected by the processor by comparing the images or video toimages or video of a route that may be not damaged, with the differencesindicating damage to the route. In the example where the sensor injectselectric signals into the conductive portion of the route and detectschanges in the signals, the failure to detect the signals or significantdecreases in the strength of the signals (e.g., due to a break in theroute) indicate damage to the route. In the example where the sensor maybe a displacement sensor, significant changes in the distance betweenthe sensor and the route indicate damage to the route, such as breaks inthe route that occur when the distance between the sensor and the routechange by more than a determine threshold level. In one embodiment, athreshold level may be about 10 percent. Other suitable threshold valuesmay be 15% or 20%, or more. The threshold level may be determined basedon application specific parameters.

The processor verifies or refutes damage to the route as detected basedon the data obtained by one sensor with the damage as detected based onthe data obtained by another sensor. For example, if the data from bothsensors indicates a damaged route, then the processor can determine thatthe route may be damaged. If the data from only one sensor indicatesdamage to the route, then the processor does not determine that theroute may be damaged.

In one embodiment, the processing unit and/or examines datarepresentative of the health of the route obtained at different times.The processing unit can examine thermal signatures or other data aboutthe route that may be obtained at different times, but at the samelocation along the route, to determine whether the route may be damaged.The memory device in the systems can store previously obtained data andthe associated locations where the data may be obtained. The processingunit can determine where the data about the route may be obtained basedon information provided by a locating device 704, such as a globalpositioning system (GPS) receiver, an electromagnetic reader (e.g.,radio frequency identification reader) that interrogates roadsidetransponders encoded with locations along the route, a dead reckoningsystem that calculates distance traveled along the route based onvehicle speed and an elapsed time, etc. The processing unit can directthe memory device to store the data obtained by the sensor along withthe location along the route where the data was obtained. The processingunit can then compare data obtained by the same or different sensors atthe same or different times, but representative of the same locationalong the route, to determine whether the route may be damaged at thatlocation.

In one embodiment, the processor temporally extrapolates the health ofthe route based on data obtained by the sensor at different times. Forexample, the health of the route can deteriorate over time. As a result,data obtained by the sensor at an earlier time may not indicate damageor may indicate relatively small amounts of damage to the route comparedto the data obtained by the same or different sensor at a later time.Instead of disregarding previously obtained data indicative of lessdamage to the route, the processor can temporally extrapolate the amountof damage between different times at which data may be obtained by thesensor. This temporal extrapolation can include quantifying amounts ofdamage to the route based on data obtained by the sensor at multipledifferent times and extrapolating the damage to me route based on thistemporally different data. For example, the damage to the route can beassigned a health score, such as a numerical rating between two values(e.g., zero to one, zero to ten, zero to 100, or another range), withdifferent scores indicating different amounts of damage to the route. Inone embodiment, smaller numbers indicate less damage to the route thanlarger numbers. The processor can assign the scores based on the amountof damage detected. For example, smaller scores may be assigned tolocations along the route having no detected damage or damage that maybe relatively small (e.g., thermal signatures deviate less from thehealthy signatures than for larger scores, the detected sounds may bequieter than for larger scores, the magnitude of the electric signalsdecreases less than for larger scores, etc.), and larger scores may beassigned to locations along the route having more significant detecteddamage or damage that may be larger (e.g., thermal signatures deviatemore from the healthy signatures than for smaller scores, the detectedsounds may be louder than for smaller scores, the magnitude of theelectric signals decreases more than for smaller scores, etc.).

The processor obtains sensor data about the same or similar locationsalong the route (e.g., within the same field of view or sensed area ofthe sensor 106 and/or 702) at different times (e.g., different hours ofthe same day, different days, different weeks, different months,different years, etc.), and compares the sensor data or scores of theroute to determine how quickly the health of the route may bedeteriorating. For example, if the health score of the route at aparticular location indicates that the health of the route may bedecreasing exponentially, then the processor determines that the healthof the route may be deteriorating much faster than another location ofthe route having a health score that may be linearly decreasing or thatmay be decreasing at a slower rate. The processor can extrapolate thehealth scores (or damage to the route) based on the previous healthscores to predict the extent of damage to the route at a location in thefuture.

Based on the rate at which the damage to the route may be worseningand/or the extrapolated damage to the route, the processor implementsdifferent responsive actions. For example, for damage to the route at alocation that may be worsening at a first rate, the processor may directthe vehicle controller to slow down during travel through that locationalong the route during current and/or future travel over the route. Fordamage to the route at a location that may be worsening at a larger,second rate, the processor may direct the communication system tocommunicate warnings to other vehicles traveling in the vicinity of thelocation (currently and/or in the future) to notify the other vehiclesof the increasing damage to the route. For damage to the route at alocation that may be worsening at a larger, third rate, the processormay direct the communication system to communicate a warning to anoff-board facility that repairs and/or inspects the route. For damage tothe route at a location that may be worsening at a larger, fourth rate,the processor may direct the vehicle controller to no longer travel overthat location of the route during future travel of the vehicle.

FIG. 6 illustrates a flowchart of a method 600 for examining a routeaccording to one example of the inventive subject matter describedherein. The method may be used by the system (shown in FIG. 1) toinspect a route being traveled by a vehicle using one or morethermographic cameras. At 602, radiation emitted by a route may besensed during movement of a vehicle along the route. As described above,one or more thermographic or infrared cameras may sense temperatures ofthe route during movement of the vehicle to which the cameras may beconnected.

At 604, one or more thermal signatures of the route may be generatedfrom the sensed radiation. For example, a thermal signature thatincludes different colors, intensities, or the like, associated withdifferent temperatures of the route may be created. Optionally, thethermal signature may be a wavelength spectrum representative of thedifferent temperatures. The thermal signature can be formed from asingle pass of the thermographic camera(s) over the route, or may be acombination of several thermal signatures of the same or overlappingsegments of the route.

At 606, a determination may be made as to whether the thermal signatureindicates damage to the route. As described above, the thermal signaturecan be examined to identify differences between the colors, intensities,or the like, to locate areas of interest that can represent damage tothe route. Optionally, the thermal signature can be combined withseveral previously acquired thermal signatures to identify suchdifferences representative of damage. In another example, the thermalsignature can be compared with a healthy thermal signature and/or abaseline thermal signature to identify differences representative ofdamage.

If the thermal signature indicates damage to the route, then flow of themethod can proceed to 608 and one or more responsive actions can beimplemented. For example, a warning signal can be communicated to one ormore other vehicles to warn the other vehicles of the damage, a warningsignal can be communicated to one or more wayside devices disposed at ornear the route so that the wayside devices can communicate the warningsignals to one or more other vehicles, a warning signal can becommunicated to an off-board facility, movement of the vehicle can beautomatically slowed or stopped, an onboard operator can be notified ofthe damage, or the like.

If the thermal signature does not indicate damage to the route, thenflow of the method can return to step 602 so that additional radiationof the route can continue to be monitored.

FIG. 8 illustrates a flowchart of one embodiment of a method 800 forexamining a route. The methods may be used by the systems shown in FIGS.1 and 7 to inspect a route being traveled by a vehicle using one or morethermographic cameras and, optionally, one or more additionalnon-thermographic cameras. The flowcharts of the other methods canrepresent algorithms by which the processors operate, or can be used tocreate such algorithms for directing operation of the processors inaccordance with the operations and functions described herein.

At 802, radiation emitted by or from a route may be sensed duringmovement of a vehicle along the route. As described above, one or morethermographic or infrared cameras may detect temperatures of the routeduring movement of the vehicle. These temperatures can be representativeof the radiation emitted from the route. At 804, one or more thermalsignatures of the route may be generated from the sensed radiation. Forexample, a thermal signature that includes different colors,intensities, or the like, associated with different temperatures of theroute may be created. Optionally, the thermal signature may be awavelength spectrum representative of the different temperatures. Thethermal signature can be formed from a single pass of the thermographiccamera(s) over the route, or may be a combination of several thermalsignatures of the same or overlapping segments of the route.

At 806, a determination may be made as to whether the thermal signaturegenerated at step 804 may be compared with one or more previouslyobtained thermal signatures. For example, during a previous trip of thesame vehicle or another vehicle over the same segment of a route,thermographic cameras may detect temperatures for creating differentthermal signatures. Two or more of these signatures can be compared witheach other to identify changes in the health (e.g., damage) of theroute. If two or more signatures may be to be compared, then flow of themethod can proceed toward step 808. Otherwise, flow of the method canproceed toward 816.

At 808, a determination may be made as to whether to correct one or moreof the thermal signatures based on differences in ambient temperatures.As described, the thermal signatures may be obtained at different timesand at different ambient temperatures. One thermal signature may beobtained at night when the route may be cooler and another thermalsignature may be obtained at noon when the route may be warmer. Asanother example, one thermal signature may be obtained during the winterwhen the route may be cooler and another thermal signature may beobtained during the summer when the route may be warmer. If one or moreof the thermal signatures may be based on radiation sensed from theroute during different ambient temperatures, then the method optionallychanges at least one of the thermal signatures to account for thisdifference. Flow of the method can proceed toward step 810.Alternatively, if the thermal signatures may be not based on radiationsensed during different ambient temperatures, or if the thermalsignatures may be not to be modified based on the different ambienttemperatures, then flow of the method can proceed toward step 812.

At 810, the different ambient temperatures at which the radiation of oneor more of the thermal signatures was obtained may be determined and atleast one of the thermal signatures may be modified based on thedifference in ambient temperatures. The thermal signatures may be storedby the processor in the memory device (or in an off-board location thatmay be accessed by the processor via the communication system), with theambient temperatures at which the radiation represented in the thermalsignatures were obtained stored with the thermal signatures. The ambienttemperatures can be obtained and compared with each other for thethermal signatures being examined. Depending on the difference betweenthe ambient temperatures, one or more of the thermal signatures may bemodified. For example, if a first thermal signature represents radiationobtained at an ambient temperature of 27 degrees Celsius and a secondthermal signature represents radiation obtained at an ambienttemperature of 12 degrees Celsius, one or more of these thermalsignatures may be modified so that the signatures represent radiationfrom the route at the same temperature. In one embodiment, theintensities of the radiation sensed for the first thermal signature maybe reduced to have an average or median radiation that may be the sameas an average or median radiation of the sensed radiations for thesecond thermal signature. In another embodiment, the intensities of theradiation sensed for the second thermal signature may be increased tohave an average or median radiation that may be the same as an averageor median radiation of the sensed radiations for the first thermalsignature. In another embodiment, the intensities of the radiationsensed for the first and second thermal signatures may be increased ordecreased, as appropriate, to have the same average or median radiation.

At 812, a determination may be made as to whether additional sensor datamay be to be examined (in addition to the thermal signature(s) describedabove) in order to identify damage to the route. If additional sensordata may be to be examined, then flow of the method can proceed towardstep 814. Otherwise, if the thermal signatures may be to be used todetect route damage (and not other types of sensor data), then flow ofthe method can proceed toward step 816.

At step 814, additional sensor data may be obtained. For example, anon-thermographic camera captures images and/or video of the route, anelectric signal may be injected into a conductive rail of the route andchanges in the signal may be detected, changes in distances between asensor or the vehicle and the route may be measured, sounds of travel ofthe vehicle over the route may be acoustically detected, etc. At step816, a determination may be made as to whether the acquired dataindicates damage to the route. In an embodiment where only a singlethermographic image may be used, a thermal signature based on the imagemay be examined to determine if the route includes pits, cracks, gaps,or other damage, which would appear as changes in the radiation from theroute in the signature. In an embodiment where multiple thermographicimages may be used, the thermal signatures based on the images (and/orthat may be corrected due to differences in ambient temperatures) can becompared with each other or otherwise examined to determine whether theroute may be damaged (as described herein). In an embodiment where botha thermal signature and other data of the route may be obtained, thesignature can be examined to identify damage to the route and the otherdata can be examined to confirm or refute the damage, or the other datacan be used to identify the damage and the signature can be used toconfirm or refute the damage.

If the thermal signature and/or other data indicates that the route maybe damaged, flow of the method can proceed toward step 818. Otherwise,flow of the method 800 can proceed toward 820. Optionally, the method800 can terminate. At 818, one or more responsive actions can beimplemented. For example, a warning signal can be communicated to one ormore other vehicles to warn the other vehicles of the damage, a warningsignal can be communicated to one or more wayside devices disposed at ornear the route so that the wayside devices can communicate the warningsignals to one or more other vehicles, a warning signal can becommunicated to an off-board facility, movement of the vehicle can beautomatically slowed or stopped, an onboard operator can be notified ofthe damage, or the like. Flow of the method may proceed toward step 820or optionally terminate.

At 820, a determination may be made as to whether damage identified fromexamination of the thermal signature(s) and/or other data may be to betemporally extrapolated. For example, route damage that may beidentified from two or more measurements of the route at different timesmay be used to determine how quickly the health of the route may bedeteriorating, as described above. If such a determination may be to bemade, then flow of the method can proceed toward step 822. Otherwise,flow of the method can return toward step 802. Optionally, the method800 may terminate. The determination made at 820 may be based on whetherthe previous identifications of damage may be available. For example, ifseveral previous measurements of the health of the route may beavailable, then the damage may be temporally extrapolated to determinethe rate at which the route may be deteriorating, as described above.

At 822, the damage to the route that may be extrapolated from thethermal signatures and/or other data may be examined to determinewhether one or more responsive actions may be to be implemented. Forexample, the previous and/or currently identified extent of damage canbe examined to determine how quickly the health of the route may bedeclining at one or more locations. If the rate of decline of the routemay be sufficiently fast (e.g., greater than a designated threshold,such as a rate that may be faster than a route that may be not cracked,pitted, or broken), then one or more responsive actions may beimplemented. As a result, flow of the method can proceed toward step824. Otherwise, flow of the method can return toward step 802 orterminate.

At 824, one or more responsive actions may be implemented. Theresponsive action(s) that may be performed may be based on the rate ofdecline of the route. For example, for damage to the route that may beworsening at a first rate, the processor may communicate a signal todirect the vehicle controller to slow down during travel through thatlocation along the route during current and/or future travel over theroute. For damage to the route at a location that may be worsening at alarger, second rate, the processor may communicate a signal to directthe communication system to communicate warnings to other vehiclestraveling in the vicinity of the location (currently and/or in thefuture) to notify the other vehicles of the increasing damage to theroute. For damage to the route at a location that may be worsening at alarger, third rate, the processor may communicate a signal to direct thecommunication system to communicate a warning to an off-board facilitythat repairs and/or inspects the route. For damage to the route at alocation that may be worsening at a larger, fourth rate, the processormay communicate a signal to direct the vehicle controller to no longertravel over that location of the route during future travel of thevehicle. Flow of the method may return toward step 802 or may terminate.

In one embodiment, a system (e.g., a route examination system) includesa thermographic camera configured to be logically or mechanicallycoupled with a vehicle that travels along a route. The thermographiccamera is also configured to sense infrared radiation emitted orreflected from the route and to generate a sensed thermal signaturerepresentative of the infrared radiation that is sensed. The system alsoincludes a computer readable memory device configured to store adesignated thermal signature representative of infrared radiationemitted from a segment of the route that is not damaged. The system alsoincludes an analysis processor configured to determine a condition of afirst portion of the route relative to other portions of the route atleast in part by comparing the sensed thermal signature and thedesignated thermal signature.

Optionally, determining the condition of the first portion of the routeincludes determining that the first portion of the route is damaged, andthe analysis processor is configured to direct a vehicle controller ofthe vehicle to change an operation of the vehicle.

Optionally, the designated thermal signature represents the infraredradiation emitted by the first portion of the route at a common locationas the infrared radiation sensed for the sensed thermal signature at aprior time when the first portion of the route was not damaged.

Optionally, the designated thermal signature represents the infraredradiation that one or more of calculated or estimated to be emitted fromthe first portion of the route.

Optionally, the analysis processor is configured to combine the sensedthermal signature from the thermographic camera with one or morepreviously sensed thermal signatures and to compare a combination of thesensed thermal signature and the one or more previously sensed thermalsignatures with the designated thermal signature to determine whetherthe first portion of the route is damaged.

Optionally, the analysis processor is configured to determine a rate atwhich damage to the first portion of the route is changing based atleast in part on the sensed thermal signature and one or more previouslysensed thermal signatures.

Optionally, the analysis processor is configured to implement differentactions in response to the rate at which damage to the first portion ofthe route is changing based on the rate at which the damage to the firstportion of the route is changing.

Optionally, the system also includes one or more sensors configured tomeasure one or more characteristics of the route that are indicative ofdamage to the route. The analysis processor optionally is configured todetermine that the first portion of the route is damaged responsive toboth the sensed thermal signature and the one or more characteristics ofthe route indicating damage to the first portion of the route.

Optionally, the change to the operation of the vehicle comprises one ormore of: autonomously slowing a ground speed of the vehicle, reducing anengine speed of the vehicle, engaging a braking system of the vehicle,steering the vehicle to avoid the first portion of the route, engaging asuspension system of the vehicle to absorb a shock upon contact with thefirst portion of the route, and/or signaling a maintenance crew torepair the damage to the first portion of the route.

In one embodiment, a system (e.g., a route examination system) includesa camera or sensor configured to be logically or mechanically coupledwith a vehicle that travels along a route. The camera is configured tosense radiation emitted or reflected from the route and to generate asensed signature representative of the radiation that is sensed from asegment of the route. The system also includes a computer readablememory device configured to store a designated signature representativeof radiation emitted from the segment of the route, and an analysisprocessor configured to compare the sensed signature to the designatedsignature. The analysis processor is further configured to determine arate of change to the route based on the comparison of the sensedthermal signature and the designated signature, and to implement one ormore actions in response to the rate of change of the route.

Optionally, the analysis processor is configured to direct a vehiclecontroller of the vehicle to autonomously slow movement of the vehicleresponsive to the analysis processor determining that the segment of theroute is damaged and the location and direction of the vehicle indicatethat the vehicle will travel over the segment of the route.

Optionally, the designated signature is a thermal signature of theinfrared radiation emitted by, or reflected from, the route at thesegment of the at a prior time when the segment of the route was notdamaged.

Optionally, the analysis processor is configured to determine that theroute is damaged based on both the sensed thermal signature and onexternal or contextual information.

In one embodiment, a method (e.g., for examining a route) includessensing infrared radiation emitted from a route being traveled by avehicle using a thermographic camera coupled with the vehicle,generating a sensed thermal signature representative of the infraredradiation that is sensed, obtaining a designated thermal signaturerepresentative of infrared radiation emitted from a segment of the routethat is not damaged, and determining whether the route is damaged bycomparing the sensed thermal signature and the designated thermalsignature.

Optionally, the method also includes autonomously slowing movement ofthe vehicle responsive to determining that the route is damaged.

Optionally, the designated thermal signature represents the infraredradiation emitted by the route at a common location as the infraredradiation sensed for the sensed thermal signature at a prior time whenthe route was not damaged.

Optionally, the designated thermal signature represents infraredradiation that is calculated or estimated to be emitted from the route.

Optionally, the method also includes combining the sensed thermalsignature from the thermographic camera with one or more previouslysensed thermal signatures to form a composite signature, and comparingthe sensed thermal signature to the composite signature to determinewhether the route is damaged.

Optionally, the method also includes determining a rate at which damageto the route is changing based on comparing a sensed thermal signatureto a composite thermal signature.

Optionally, the method also includes implementing one or more differentactions selected from (a) communicating one or more of: a warning signalto one or more other vehicles to warn the other vehicles of thecondition of the route at the first portion, a warning signal to one ormore wayside devices disposed at or near the route so that the waysidedevices can communicate the warning signals to one or more othervehicles systems, or a warning signal to an off-board facility that canarrange for the repair or further examination of the damaged segment ofthe route, and (b) controlling one or more of: a suspension system thatswitches the vehicle from one mode of operation to another mode ofoperation as the vehicle approaches or passes over the first portionthat has been identified as damaged or unhealthy, the propulsion systemto reduce the chance of skid or slippage, or the engine throttle toreduce the vehicle speed.

The above description is illustrative and not restrictive. For example,the above-described embodiments (and/or examples thereof) may be used incombination with each other. In addition, many modifications may be madeto adapt a particular situation or material to the teachings of theinventive subject matter without departing from its scope. While thedimensions and types of materials described herein may be intended todefine the parameters of the inventive subject matter, they may be by nomeans limiting and may be exemplary embodiments. Many other embodimentswill be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art upon reviewing theabove description. The scope of the inventive subject matter should,therefore, be determined with reference to the appended claims, alongwith the full scope of equivalents to which such claims may be entitled.In the appended claims, the terms “including” and “in which” may be usedas the plain-English equivalents of the respective terms “comprising”and “wherein.” Moreover, in the following claims, the terms “first,”“second,” and “third,” etc. may be used merely as labels, and may be notintended to impose numerical requirements on their objects.

This written description uses examples to disclose several embodimentsof the inventive subject matter and also to enable a person of ordinaryskill in the art to practice the embodiments of the inventive subjectmatter, including making and using any devices or systems and performingany incorporated methods. The patentable scope of the inventive subjectmatter may include other examples that occur to those of ordinary skillin the art. Such other examples may be intended to be within the scopeof the claims if they have structural elements that do not differ fromthe literal language of the claims, or if they include equivalentstructural elements with insubstantial differences from the literallanguages of the claims.

The foregoing description of certain embodiments of the inventivesubject matter will be better understood when read in conjunction withthe appended drawings. To the extent that the figures illustratediagrams of the functional blocks of various embodiments, the functionalblocks may be not necessarily indicative of the division betweenhardware circuitry. Thus, for example, one or more of the functionalblocks (for example, processors or memories) may be implemented in asingle piece of hardware (for example, a general purpose signalprocessor, microcontroller, random access memory, hard disk, and thelike). Similarly, the programs may be stand-alone programs, may beincorporated as subroutines in an operating system, may be functions inan installed software package, and the like. The various embodiments arenot limited to the arrangements and instrumentality shown in thedrawings.

As used herein, an element or step recited in the singular and proceededwith the word “a” or “an” should be understood as not excluding pluralof said elements or steps, unless such exclusion may be explicitlystated. Furthermore, references to “an embodiment” or “one embodiment”of the inventive subject matter may be not intended to be interpreted asexcluding the existence of additional embodiments that also incorporatethe recited features. Moreover, unless explicitly stated to thecontrary, embodiments “comprising,” “including,” or “having” an elementor a plurality of elements having a particular property may includeadditional such elements not having that property.

What is claimed is:
 1. A system comprising: a thermographic cameraconfigured to be logically or mechanically coupled with a vehicle thattravels along a route, the thermographic camera is also configured tosense infrared radiation emitted or reflected from the route, thethermographic camera configured to generate a sensed thermal signaturerepresentative of the infrared radiation that is sensed; a computerreadable memory device configured to store a stored thermal signaturerepresentative of infrared radiation emitted from a segment of the routethat is not damaged, the stored thermal signature being a combination ofpreviously sensed thermal signatures of the route; and an analysisprocessor configured to determine a condition of the route at least inpart by comparing the sensed thermal signature and the stored thermalsignature.
 2. The system of claim 1, wherein determining the conditionof the first portion of the route includes determining that the firstportion of the route is damaged, and the analysis processor isconfigured to direct a vehicle controller of the vehicle to change anoperation of the vehicle.
 3. The system of claim 1, wherein the analysisprocessor is configured to determine a rate at which damage to the firstportion of the route is changing based at least in part on the sensedthermal signature and the previously sensed thermal signatures.
 4. Thesystem of claim 3, wherein the analysis processor is configured toimplement different actions in response to the rate at which damage tothe first portion of the route is changing based on the rate at whichthe damage to the first portion of the route is changing.
 5. The systemof claim 1, further comprising one or more sensors other than thethermographic camera, the one or more sensors configured to measure oneor more characteristics of the route other than the infrared radiationthat are indicative of damage to the route, wherein the analysisprocessor is configured to determine that the first portion of the routeis damaged responsive to both the sensed thermal signature and the oneor more characteristics of the route indicating damage to the firstportion of the route.
 6. The system of claim 2, wherein the change tothe operation of the vehicle comprises one or more of: autonomouslyslowing a ground speed of the vehicle, reducing an engine speed of thevehicle, engaging a braking system of the vehicle, steering the vehicleto avoid the first portion of the route, engaging a suspension system ofthe vehicle to absorb a shock upon contact with the first portion of theroute, or signaling a maintenance crew to repair the damage to the firstportion of the route.
 7. A system comprising: a camera or sensorconfigured to be logically or mechanically coupled with a vehicle thattravels along a route, the camera configured to sense radiation emittedor reflected from the route, the camera configured to generate a firstsignature representative of the radiation that is sensed from a segmentof the route; a computer readable memory device configured to store asecond signature representative of radiation emitted from the segment ofthe route; and an analysis processor configured to compare the firstsignature to the second signature, and the analysis processor is furtherconfigured to determine a rate of change to the route based on thecomparison of the first thermal signature to the second signature, andthe analysis processor is further configured to implement one or moreactions in response to the rate of change of the route, wherein theanalysis processor is configured to direct a vehicle controller of thevehicle to autonomously slow movement of the vehicle responsive to theanalysis processor determining that the segment of the route is damagedand a location and direction of the vehicle indicate that the vehiclewill travel over the segment of the route.
 8. The system of claim 7,wherein second designated signature is a thermal signature of theinfrared radiation emitted by, or reflected from, the route at thesegment of the route at a prior time when the segment of the route wasnot damaged.
 9. The system of claim 7, wherein the analysis processor isconfigured to determine that the route is damaged based on both thefirst thermal signature and on external or contextual information. 10.The system of claim 7, wherein the second thermal signature representsthe infrared radiation that one or more of calculated or estimated to beemitted from the route.
 11. A method comprising: sensing infraredradiation emitted from a route being traveled by a vehicle using athermographic camera coupled with the vehicle; generating a firstthermal signature representative of the infrared radiation that issensed; obtaining a composite signature that is a combination ofpreviously sensed thermal signatures of the route; and determiningwhether the route is damaged by comparing the first thermal signaturewith the composite signature.
 12. The method of claim 11, furthercomprising autonomously slowing movement of the vehicle responsive todetermining that the route is damaged.
 13. The method of claim 11,wherein the previously sensed thermal signatures represent the infraredradiation emitted by the route at a prior time when the route was notdamaged.
 14. The method of claim 11, further comprising combining thepreviously sensed thermal signatures to form the composite signature.15. The method of claim 11, further comprising determining a rate atwhich damage to the route is changing based on comparing the firstthermal signature to the composite signature.
 16. The method of claim11, further comprising implementing one or more different actionsselected from: communicating one or more of: a warning signal to one ormore other vehicles to warn the other vehicles of the condition of theroute at the first portion, a warning signal to one or more waysidedevices disposed at or near the route so that the wayside devices cancommunicate the warning signals to one or more other vehicles systems,or a warning signal to an off-board facility that can arrange for therepair or further examination of the damaged segment of the route, andcontrolling one or more of: a suspension system that switches thevehicle from one mode of operation to another mode of operation as thevehicle approaches or passes over the first portion that has beenidentified as damaged or unhealthy, the propulsion system to reduce thechance of skid or slippage, or the engine throttle to reduce the vehiclespeed.